More Space For Joy & World As It Is Poem by Margaret Alice

More Space For Joy

I shall defend my right to experience
passionate feelings against Eastern
pleadings to give up joy and sorrow

live in quiet submission to whatever
fate brings; I know fate endowed
me with my life’s limitations,

circumstances and personality. I base my
life on rational considerations, claim my
freedom based on rationality

but I shall enjoy feelings and emotions,
capacity to react to stimuli creatively,
refuse to be resigned and calm.

If play of feelings creates karma, so be it -
my life and relationships are founded on
integrity, I’ll keep imaginary life intact

and live my fantasy; Eastern methodologies,
resigned receipt preventing pain and sorrow
seem a waste of glorious capacity

to feel. I willingly allow ideas hurt me
as those wounds open up more space for joy
just like Kahlil Gibran said.


Prefer World As It Is

I respect all viewpoints, believing
everything can be made true, but we
get to choose which truths we want
to identify and interact with

not the truth of Buddhism in Eastern
religion for me: The self and everything
else is seen as empty – to facilitate
creating a distance between action and result –

no motivation to excel is left attaining
that goal, no attachment to the result of
our deeds; it leads to Unification and the
end of the universe - but I don’t want that,

diversity seems so much more exciting.
Dr Hiroshi predicts existence of a utopian
state of unity for the year 2244 – sounds
boring, I prefer the world as it is.